Phys.org: Phys.org news tagged with: phase diagramhttp://phys.org/
en-usPhys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine.The quantum dance of oxygenUnder extremely high pressure conditions oxygen molecules group into quartets and give rise to a 'dance of their magnetic moments.' This, as observed in a new study carried out by SISSA in collaboration with ICTP and published in PNAS, results in magnetic properties never previously observed in these conditions and in theory points to the existence of a new phase of the element, called epsilon 1.http://phys.org/news323963621.html
PhysicsMon, 07 Jul 2014 15:00:01 EDTnews323963621Insights into the stages of high-temperature superconductivityResearchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology uncover the complexities of quantum phase fluctuations during the superconductor-insulator transition in high-temperature superconductors.http://phys.org/news319796220.html
PhysicsTue, 20 May 2014 10:30:02 EDTnews319796220Emerging research suggests a new paradigm for 'unconventional superconductors'An international team of scientists has reported the first experimental observation of the quantum critical point (QCP) in the extensively studied "unconventional superconductor" TiSe2, finding that it does not reside as predicted within the superconducting dome of the phase diagram, but rather at a full GPa higher in pressure.http://phys.org/news316281583.html
PhysicsWed, 09 Apr 2014 17:01:38 EDTnews316281583Tracking the transition of early-universe quark soup to matter as we know it(Phys.org) —Ever wonder how the hot soup of subatomic particles that filled the early universe transformed into the ordinary matter of today's world? Nuclear physicists exploring this question can't exactly travel back 13.8 billion years to watch what really happened, but they can recreate matter at the extreme temperatures and densities that existed just after the Big Bang by smashing together ordinary atomic nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). At peak performance, this extraordinarily versatile atom smasher at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory reproduces the primordial soup thousands of times per second. Using sophisticated detectors to track what happens as exotic particles emerge from the trillion-degree collision zone and "freeze out" into more familiar forms of matter, scientists are turning up interesting details about how the transition takes place.http://phys.org/news316069805.html
PhysicsMon, 07 Apr 2014 06:10:27 EDTnews316069805Simulation model for molecular hydrogen under high pressureSome experiments are really difficult to perform in practice. To gain a detailed understanding of the behaviour of molecular hydrogen (H2), for example, we would have to produce such high pressures as those occurring within the core of gaseous planets like Jupiter and Saturn or inside stars. If such conditions cannot be created, an alternative method is to simulate them on the computer, but the model has to be accurate. A group of research scientists from the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste used a simulation model that is far more accurate than previously used, and carried out an experiment to test a hypothesis about the behaviour of hydrogen that is splitting the scientific community.http://phys.org/news314866653.html
PhysicsMon, 24 Mar 2014 07:57:43 EDTnews314866653'Diamane': Diamond film possible without the pressure(Phys.org) —Perfect sheets of diamond a few atoms thick appear to be possible even without the big squeeze that makes natural gems.http://phys.org/news310665225.html
NanotechnologyMon, 03 Feb 2014 15:54:04 EDTnews310665225Supercomputing the transition from ordinary to extraordinary forms of matter(Phys.org) —To get a better understanding of the subatomic soup that filled the early universe, and how it "froze out" to form the atoms of today's world, scientists are taking a closer look at the nuclear phase diagram. Like a map that describes how the physical state of water morphs from solid ice to liquid to steam with changes in temperature and pressure, the nuclear phase diagram maps out different phases of the components of atomic nuclei—from the free quarks and gluons that existed at the dawn of time to the clusters of protons and neutrons that make up the cores of atoms today.http://phys.org/news299867566.html
PhysicsTue, 01 Oct 2013 17:33:23 EDTnews299867566Novel features of helium-3 superfluidity discovered with new SQUID detector chip(Phys.org) —In order to study many complex phenomena, physicists seek to isolate them in potential wells or boxes with easily described forms and boundary conditions. These features in turn dictate various behaviors of the system under study like, for example, equilibrium states or resonances. In recent times it has emerged that constraining particles on extremely small scales can result in interesting new behaviors. Artificial atom systems, like quantum dots, can be fine-tuned in this way to specific color or conductivity according to their dimension. In some cases, even the phase of a material can be manipulated. A group of researchers has recently demonstrated the ability to precisely control the phase structure of superfluid helium-3 by manipulating the geometry of the container that holds it, and applying an appropriate magnetic field. Their new paper, recently published in Science, describes how they used an ultra-sensitive SQUID detector to readout the NMR spectra that reveals the phase information.http://phys.org/news288436371.html
PhysicsWed, 22 May 2013 10:13:38 EDTnews288436371New phase of water could dominate the interiors of Uranus and Neptune(Phys.org) —While everyone is familiar with water in the liquid, ice, and gas phases, water can also exist in many other phases over a vast range of temperature and pressure conditions. One lesser known phase of water is the superionic phase, which is considered an "ice" but exists somewhere between a solid and a liquid: while the oxygen atoms occupy fixed lattice positions as in a solid, the hydrogen atoms migrate through the lattice as in a fluid. Until now, scientists have thought that there was only one phase of superionic ice, but scientists in a new study have discovered a second phase that is more stable than the original. The new phase of superionic ice could make up a large component of the interiors of giant icy planets such as Uranus and Neptune.http://phys.org/news286086930.html
PhysicsThu, 25 Apr 2013 09:00:04 EDTnews286086930Material turns 'schizophrenic' on way to superconductivity(Phys.org) —Rice University physicists on the hunt for the origins of high-temperature superconductivity have published new findings this week about a material that becomes "schizophrenic"—simultaneously exhibiting the characteristics of both a metallic conductor and an insulator.http://phys.org/news284361515.html
PhysicsFri, 05 Apr 2013 06:18:44 EDTnews284361515Surprising competition found in high-temperature superconductors(Phys.org)—A team led by SLAC and Stanford scientists has made an important discovery toward understanding how a large group of complex copper oxide materials lose their electrical resistance at remarkably high temperatures.http://phys.org/news272186909.html
PhysicsThu, 15 Nov 2012 07:28:56 EDTnews272186909Copper fields: Quantum criticality in high-temperature cuprate superconductors(Phys.org) -- Superconductivity is a complex phenomenon that is considerably more intricate than many casual observers realize. This caveat applies equally to the subset of this research known as high-temperature superconductivity &#8211; which, it should be noted, is described as such only in relation to the near absolute zero temperature range at which conventional superconductors are found, and furthermore is not to be confused with the loftier goal of room-temperature superconductivity. That said, certain aspects of electronic properties in high-temperature copper oxide, or cuprate, superconductors imply that the absence of conventional metallic Fermi liquid behavior &#8211; the standard model of electrons in metals &#8211; and the presence of unconventional superconductivity are closely related. While such a partnership often occurs proximate to what is known as a quantum critical point (a special class of continuous phase transition that takes place at the absolute zero of temperature in a material where the phase transition temperature has been driven to zero by the application of a pressure, field or through doping), the role of quantum criticality in the cuprates has remained elusive. Recently, however, researchers at the Center for Nanophysics and Advanced Materials and Department of Physics, University of Maryland, have studied the anomalous properties of the cuprate material La2-xCexCuO4, or LCCO, concluding that quantum criticality plays a significant role in shaping the anomalous properties of these superconductive materials.http://phys.org/news259314135.html
PhysicsTue, 19 Jun 2012 09:10:05 EDTnews259314135When matter melts: Physicists map phase changes in quark-gluon plasmaIn its infancy, when the universe was a few millionths of a second old, the elemental constituents of matter moved freely in a hot, dense soup of quarks and gluons. As the universe expanded, this quark&#150;gluon plasma quickly cooled, and protons and neutrons and other forms of normal matter "froze out": the quarks became bound together by the exchange of gluons, the carriers of the color force.http://phys.org/news228055479.html
PhysicsThu, 23 Jun 2011 14:00:22 EDTnews228055479Simple lithium good for many surprises(PhysOrg.com) -- At first glance, lithium should be a simple atomic system. It is the lightest solid element and with just three electrons, it should exhibit simple, crystalline structures. However, an international team of scientists has shown that under high pressure, lithium &#147;prefers&#148; the liquid state, and that it turns out to be the elemental metal with by far the lowest melting point. At high pressure, lithium also undergoes a series of phase changes into surprisingly complex structures. The results of these experiments performed at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science&#146;s Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne, and at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, were published Nature Physics.http://phys.org/news214222344.html
PhysicsFri, 14 Jan 2011 10:12:39 EDTnews214222344